The National Minimum Wage

All domestic employers in the UK are required by law to pay at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW). It is a criminal offence for an employer to pay below the NMW, carrying a fine of up to £5,000 on conviction

NMW does not apply to:

• Employees living as part of the family household (i.e. without separately metered accommodation).

Your Rights

• You can check if you are above the NMW from the payslips your employer should be providing you with. Simply divide your gross weekly wage by the number of hours you have worked to calculate your hourly wage.
• If you think that your employer is not paying the NMW you are also entitled to inspect the tax records they keep for your employment. They must give you access to these within 14 days of receiving a written request from you, but this should only be your final course of action after more friendly and informal communication between you has broken down.

Current NMW Rates

• Age group 16-17: £3.30 per hour gross
• Age group 18-21: £4.45 gross per hour
• Age group 22 and over: £5.35 gross per hour
• If your employer provides separate accommodation for you they can offset up to £30.10 per 7-day week.

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